Lions snuff out Inferno 4-0

Lions snap 17-game winless skid – The Morrisburg Lions snapped a 17-day winless skid, shutting out the West Carleton Inferno 4-0 at the Morrisburg Arena January 26th. The Lions had not won a game since October. Above, Cal Bilmer (left, #22) fires a shot at Inferno goalie Alex Miotla early in the third period. Bilmer notched his ninth goal of the season in the second period of the game. (The Leader/Blancher photo)

MORRISBURG – For the first time in 90 days, the Morrisburg Lions have won. The Lions, who had not won a game since October 28, 2018, shutout the visiting West Carleton Inferno 4-0 January 26th.

The win snapped the Lions’ 17-game winless streak.

Bailey Norman opened the scoring late in the first period on a Lions’ power play. Dennis Fisher and goalie Paulo Suppa assisted in the play. Lions took a 1-0 lead.

Halfway through the second period, forward Cal Bilmer made it 2-0 for the Lions, scoring his ninth goal of the season. Three minutes later, Devon Burns fed a pass from Justin Shay past Inferno goalie Alex Miotla, and put the Lions up 3-0. Burns and Shay repeated the effort three minutes later, advancing the score to 4-0.

The Inferno had some chances in the second and third period. The Lions allowed a five-on-three situation thanks to a pair of penalties early in the third period. But the Inferno could only manage seven shots-on-goal for the entire third period.

Suppa blocked all 16 shots he faced from West Carleton for his first win and his first shutout for the Lions. Shay was the playmaker with three assists.

The Lions outshot the Inferno 56-16 in the game.

“This group competes hard,” said Lions’ head coach Ken Turnbull. “A lot of the games are close until the third period. The core group that is there, I am over the moon proud of them.”

With seven games remaining, the Lions still have a chance to make the final playoff spot in the league. They trail the Metcalfe Jets by 10 points and have one game in hand.

“We can’t control what the other teams do, we can only function on what we can do,” Turnbull said. “Vankleek Hill is tough, we’re excited to get back on the ice. Even if we do get eliminated [from the playoffs] that night, we’ll go out and play our hardest.”

Morrisburg will visit the Vankleek Hill Cougars February 2nd.

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